COVID and Crisis

“Crisis acts as an accelerator and an amplifier.”

We all respond to crises in different ways. But the people who actually cope well in crisis are those who cultivate an attitude of “Tragic Optimism,” a term coined by Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist from Vienna, which refers to the ability to maintain hope and find meaning in crisis. Positive psychology calls this Benefit Finding, but I like how Mr. Frankl described it: “the human capacity to creatively turn life’s negative aspects into something positive or constructive.” If we can cultivate Tragic Optimism, we have a chance to experience Post-Traumatic Growth.